


Too Many Memories

by s4mm1



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Grief, Hope, Pain, Past Lives, motivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 15:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15270951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s4mm1/pseuds/s4mm1
Summary: Link remembers more than he bargained for in the pouring rain.





	Too Many Memories

Link leaned against the cold stone, panting for breath. He was soaked from the rain; his hair clung to his face. That was fine. It hid the fact that rain wasn’t the only thing dripping down his face. He slowly sank to the ground– desperate for the thick, wet air to enter his lungs.

Impa had told him to find his memories. Remember his life, his friends, his duty… and her. Remember that he had awoken after a hundred years to save _her_. Hadn’t he done enough? He gave his life. He bled for her; dying in her arms as she begged him not to. How dare the Goddesses ask more of him? Link certainly did not like waking up to a world he no longer knew. He did not like traveling in the rain. Nor did he like fighting the various ‘Blins and ‘Fos that infected this desolate Hyrule like a disease, or how every Hylian he ran into had to talk about the Calamity, or how he missed people long dead, or how he only half remembered them, or how he had to use the Slate to find breadcrumbs left by _her_ to remember much at all.

He didn’t like remembering things anymore. It started off innocently enough: listening to her formally anoint him with the other Champions, hearing her blather on about the Divine Beasts, putting up with her condescending attitude about his duty as her vassal. That was easy. Those memories didn't hurt. There was an aura of emptiness associated with them, but nothing else bubbled beneath the surface. They were memories of the simpler times; when she was his job, his duty. Nothing more.

Yet he remembered the desert. She had, once again, pompously told him to screw off. It had become a habit for her. She would scold him for anything she could. He was yelled at for following her, not following her, speaking to her, not speaking to her, sneezing, breathing, existing. She did not like Link in any capacity. She often told Link to leave her be. He never did this of course, but this one time her outburst had made his blood boil. Fine. She could have her ever precious space. Link could see her even if she walked yards ahead of him. It would be of no consequence and allow him to cool his head. An angry knight, overtaken by emotion, was an ineffective knight. Yes. It would be safe to let her walk ahead, alone. Even a pompous princess could walk alone in the middle of a wasteland of sand without getting herself into trouble. He stared at the grains of sand caked in the seams of his boots, wondering if the Calamity itself would be better than dealing with her. Link lazily looked up and scanned the horizon to check on her. He snapped his head left, right, then left again. She was gone. His blood no longer boiled, it froze still in his veins. He could not force his body to breathe. He did not feel the beating of his heart. Only nothingness ‘till a blue speck shifted in the corner of his eyes. Something awoke inside, by the time Link could feel himself exist again he had already killed one Yiga member in a single blow. The body was behind him, blood and viscera oozing into the sand. He could still feel his body shield her as he brandished his sword, scaring away the other attackers. That was the moment things had begun to sting.

Oh yes. He remembered turning his head to look behind him, down at her. His eyes widened watching her helplessly pant as her body tried to calm itself. Seeing her chest rise and fall as she whimpered. He actually had to divert his gaze. He most certainly was not fascinated by the way her figure was sprawled in the sand or how her skin glistened with sweat. He did not dwell on her voice, and those sounds did not make his blood burn all over again. The adrenaline had merely worked him up; he did not honestly feel or think these things. Not even when she looked up at him in total awe. The squeezing, squirming feeling in his chest was temporary. Just the adrenaline.

It should have gone away, but it didn’t. No. That stupid _thing_ kept existing in her presence. When she told him to not be careless after slaying countless ‘Blins and other monsters to protect her, it was there. It was easy to dismiss. Just the adrenaline. Killing monsters left and right for as long as he had would most definitely have his heart beating out of his chest. It wasn’t that she had touched his face and treated his wounds. His body was recovering, still expecting each touch to hurt. That was why where she touched burned like fire. That thing was there when she tried to feed him a Goddess-forsaken frog; however, anyone would have wild heart palpations in such a situation. No Hylian would want to eat a living frog– still just adrenaline. He had no explanation why that feeling in his chest was there when she sat in the alcove next to him. It was there. No adrenaline to blame, just there. Maybe that’s why Link was here now, on the ground against the rocks looking over the ruins of Deya Village. Maybe if he sat here, he would remember her asking him about his life’s path in the rain. Anything to force the slew of other memories out of his head.

He could hear her sobs as she cursed the Goddess at the spring when there was no rain to drown it out. He could see her crumpled defeated figure kneeling in anguish in the road when he closed his eyes. He could feel her arms around him as he tried so hard to continue to breathe. He hadn’t wanted to remember those things. Impa hadn’t warned him some of his memories where better left forgotten.

She also didn’t tell him he would remember more than just this past life. The other memories were different from the ones of this recent life. They were distant and foggy, but he could still feel in them as if they were as recent as yesterday. He could see her in a pink dress, laughing with him on an island in the sky. He could feel how her laugh warmed his soul and how simply looking at her completed him. Then she would be in front of him as a child, in a courtyard. Smiling away, holding her hands to her chest as she asked him to find rubies and sapphires. He had the overwhelming need to impress her, to please her, to be praised by her. Memories of things that had never happened. Where that thing still squeezed and squirmed in his chest. Link hated those memories the most. They showed him snippets of lives that he would never know. Lives likely so old no history or legends remained of them if they ever existed at all. Lives where the stinging pain in his chest was warm and inviting. Lives spent with her.

Many of these memories haunted him. The worst of all was one he recalled while exploring the inner sanctum of the Forgotten Temple. Link was frustrated by the time he had reached the sanctum. He was burned all over from the Guardian's lasers and was remembering a little too much about his previous demise. Link was utterly content with just sitting the chamber stewing when he saw the massive statue of the Goddess. It glowed despite the very little light. He could not help but walk up to the immense structure, gently touching it. The stone was unnaturally warm, and Link could not help but scale the structure. He found a shelf near the top as if he was standing on top of the Goddess's hands. On the body of the statue, there was a small recess that called to him. He lightly brushed his fingertips over the stone, and the memory abruptly crashed into his consciousness.

Link could see her standing on the ledge in the open air. The air around him felt warm, and the soft breeze was soothing to his very soul. Rays of sun struck perfectly in her golden hair. It shimmered as it fluttered in the breeze. Her opalescent hair ornaments fired flashes of light with every small movement she made. He could not stop staring her as she spoke to him. Her eyes were bluer than the endless sky and brighter than the Triforce behind them.

“ _What about you Link? What will you do now?”_

Her voice almost floated towards him; he had been looking at her so intently he hadn’t been listening. He smirked for a moment before deciding on doing anything at all. Link enjoyed watching her eyes widen as she started to fret over whatever she had said to him. Seeing her flustered made him laugh. Nothing mattered anymore. He’d saved her _._ They could spend forever here, wherever here was. He was found worthy of the Triforce itself. Power, wisdom, courage, Link would use these blessings for the rest of this life; however, the greatest blessing of all was the Goddess herself reborn. Link smiled and took his's Goddess's hands in his, and lightly kissed the back of them. He kissed her again on the wrist. Again on her forearm. Again and again, until his lips found hers.

“ _Zelda, I will stay with you. Always.”_

Link exhaled sharply and stuffed his face in his hands in a futile attempt to shove the thoughts out of his head. He had failed. Somewhere, sometime a very long time ago he had failed. It was no longer easy. This was no longer his job, no longer his duty. She was his passion, his soul. It had happened in this past life he had lived, and it had happened lifetimes before. He had to save her. He would die for her again if need be. Anything to see her smile and hear her laugh and feel himself in her arms.

Link lifted himself off the stone, leaving the small alcove. He turned to his left and walked up the small knoll, gazing off into the distance. He could see the spires of the castle, and the swirling bands of Malice that enraptured the surrounding grounds. Link could feel the Master Sword hum on this back. He would go. Where ever Princess Zelda went, he would go. He would kill Gannon, and in the recesses of his mind he felt– no, he knew– he had done so before.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I initially wrote this around a year ago for ff.net and I recently found it on my computer. I added around 1,000 words and decided to update it here. Please leave a review! Have a wonderful day. Don't forget to stay hydrated.


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